(Bob Hagin says four-door compact sports wagons like the new Mazda
Protege5 are in style with thirty-somethings that are tired of the SUV
scene. Matt Hagin notes that it's deja vue for the company.)

MATT - I have to smile when I read the Mazda publicity for their '02
four-door sports wagons - like the concept is something new for them. I
was a Mazda mechanic in the '70s and '80s when Mazda's rotary-powered
RX3 wagon was on the market. It could blow the doors off any stock
domestic V8 of the day in a drag race and in sedan form, it was an SCCA
road-racing GT class winner until it died out by attrition. I still have
all the tools and jigs I used for rebuilding those engines.

BOB - I well remember those hot Mazda sports sedans of 30 years ago.
The only thing that they couldn't pass was a gas station. Their fuel
economy was terrible. But that's not a problem with the Mazda Protege5..
Its EPA mileage ratings are 25 MPG around town and 31 on the highway,
strong selling points in today's market. But gray-haired tire- kickers
shouldn't expect rotary-type performance from any of the new Mazda
mini-wagons or sedans. The standard Protege engine is a 2.0-liter
four-banger with twin overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, and it
puts out 130 horses along with 133 pound-feet of torque. It can be had
with a four-speed automatic but the standard five-speed stick shift is
more in keeping with its generic "sports wagon" designation.

MATT - For a long time the term "hatchback" has been a downer in
this country but now some of the carriage-trade European auto
manufacturers are building coupes that have rear "lids" that swing up.
The Protege5 fits nicely into this category. It's somewhat inappropriate
to call it a simple station wagon, since its non-vertical back door
wasn't designed strictly for cargo space. Its styling would be pretty
flashy for a plebeian station wagon too. Its forward-thrusting nose is
pretty sporty, with an air intake "box" and a couple of built-in round
fog lamps. The cladding below the body line simulates ground-effects
add-ons and the five-spoke polished aluminum wheels mount relatively
low-profile P190/50R-16 tires.

BOB - The front suspension uses conventional MacPherson struts, but
the rear is labeled by Mazda as TTL or Twin Trapezoidal Link with a
locating arm. I didn't do well in high-school geometry, so I had to look
up what than meant. It turned out to be two unequal, but parallel
trailing arms on each side. I guess TTL sounds fancier. The shocks and
springs are "tuned' for a more sporting ride than the plain models and I
think it's based on the Protege ES sedan. The combination adds up to
good handling, though drivers can't expect the "situation-saving"
electronic traction and speed control systems that are found on the
high-priced sports wagons. All the brakes are disc and an anti-skid
system is an option that our test car didn't carry it.

MATT - The Mazda promotional stuff that came with the car states
that the company expects 20-percent of its sales to be the Protege5
wagon and it's obviously aimed at the youth market that's one step older
than the spiky-hair "Import Scene" street racer set. The target is the
25 to 35-year-oldS who haven't yet lost their pizzazz. It's got "the
look," but there's also room to haul groceries, a couple of tykes in the
back seat and a diaper bag in back. The rear seat folds flat in a 60/40
configuration in case the owners want to go skiing and it may even be
possible to strap surfboards on the standard-equipment matte-black roof
rack.

BOB - But it will take Mazda producing a hot hatchback coupe to
really get into the youth market. The so-called "Import Scene" is
currently populated by the 18-to-25 market and it's the hottest market
in the business. Mazda's parent Ford is into it and is producing
"concept cars" that are as wild and garish as anything that comes out of
the Los Angeles import speed shops.

MATT - I know that Ford builds "world" cars and has them made in
lots of other countries, but I'm not sure it should be called part of
the "Import Scene."